Where are we headed to? I remember her. I remember the joy in her parents’ faces when they received the good news of her KCSE results. Stacy had passed with flying colors. Shortly, she joined one of the leading universities in the country. Her love for legal and justice affairs had drove her to pursue a course of her dreams; Bachelor of laws (LLB). That time she joined 1st year, the innocent look in her eyes tells it all. Being fresh from high school Stacy was a bit shy.
This proved her incorruptibility in the world of men. Weeks curved into months, months into semesters and the innocence in Stacy’s world was greeted by different backgrounds. A girl who was once born innocent has now had campus life destroy her. You cannot fail to spot her in all the famous joints and clubs in the town sleeping and hanging out with different folks ranging from juniors to those aged affluent men during the weekends.
Once known religious girl who formed a heroic and inspiring figure to many in the village is now fast drinking herself to an early grave. What has now remained of a once innocent and responsible girl is her glorious past.
In recent years university students were highly respected by the society. The reason not only being in a university but also acting as role models to the young generation in the society. What about now? Even a blind man can see the difference. Universities have become the center of evil in the society Unlike the past where a university was an implicitly called upon to educate and train the multiple intelligences for the benefit of society in various fields and inclinations, today university students however seems to be changing the general view of which these institutions are best known for.
Many students oh sorry comrades as they like being referred to will agree with me that the most memorable moments of campus life are those weekends when there is a campus party or a friend’s ‘Bash’. This is where ladies would leave nothing to imagination in their dressing for the party and when boys move their waists, dust will always break the law of gravity. However, these parties have now turned into dens of deaths, fights, rape cases and disease infections centers!
The most memorable of all is “fresher’s” nights. Innocent students from the village are introduced to campus freedom where no one from your home neither your dad nor mum is there to remind you to always keep your legs together. This is where senior students dump their girlfriends to ‘petition and scramble’ for the new ‘yellow yellow’ ladies who are still fresh from high school. And as operation ‘Ponyoka na Fresher’ continues, a tear goes down the cheeks of dumped girlfriends and in process resorting to embracing ‘sponsors’ for solace.
This has resulted into most students losing their lives in mysterious love triangles as recently witnessed of a Kenyatta university student stabbed to death by her man ‘sponsor’ following a love turned sour affair.
Sexual relationships between lecturers and students are also becoming a contemporary issue in our campuses. A lady gets to the university but after 1st semester, she realizes that education life is not simple and she discovers ways of getting excellent grades. Call them Sexually Transmitted Grades (STGs) if you like. The same is witnessed on male comrades though not common. Yes you have STGs with you, but what about STIs/STDs? For you to be awarded that good grade and avoid this scary animal called ‘Sup’ you have to submit to the lecturer’s demands lest your graduation day lives to be ‘future impossible tense’.
Well, where are the ethics that our great grandfathers/mothers would always teach us? Or who will teach us? Are we fast forgetting them? After having fun for a whole semester and forgetting about books, cheating becomes a priority for many students. From the old school ‘mwakenya’ to the modern era ‘Goggling power’ bestowed to them by the power of technology students have since upgraded their games.
This has gone a notch higher impacting heavily on the quality of our university degrees. As a result, one can graduate with good grades in a degree that he/she is not fully equipped with all that pertains the course hence affecting our quality of education. Gone are the days when our girls used to cook like their mothers, they now drink like their fathers! Gone are the days when our boys used to dress like their fathers, they now dress like their sisters!
It is only in university where you find someone walking half naked yet the person is referred to as well dressed. It is only here where you find men wearing tights like their female counterparts and the trend is seen as a ‘swag’. Our institutions of higher learning are quickly transforming from Foundations of knowledge into ‘Foundations of Immorality’ Parents believe that once their sons and daughters join institutions of higher learning, they become responsible beings, but that is not the case. Many now days leave home ‘Vertically’ and unfortunately return ‘Horizontally’ if not with contagions! To better the future and have a generation on which the country can depend on, things must change. We must embrace moral ethics in the society. Of course if one goes against the societal ethics, he/she is not subjected to any punishment but let’s leave what is not good for the society behind in the name of “swag”.